CAMPAIGN PLATFORM

As a Ward 14 Trustee candidate at the Toronto District School Board I am for:

• An education system that develops a systemic approach to inclusive and equity-oriented education.

• An education system that builds compensatory efforts around the promotion and re-enforcement of self-esteem while fostering respect, equity and social justice.

• An education system that does not tolerate any incidents of racist behaviour and is vigilant in addressing and following up on racist incidents on the part of any of its students, staff or officials.

• An education system that is inclusive of specialized schools with principles of equity, in their admission policies, retention and graduation rates.

• An education system that acknowledges that it has a role to play in overcoming the social inequalities that affect the communities it serves.

• A school curriculum that is inclusive of the heritage of the school population, including recognition and respect for the unique history of Canada’s first peoples and the history of immigration from all parts of the world that has enriched its cultural diversity.

• A school curriculum that includes an understanding of human rights and that engages students in debates over how and why struggles for social justice have failed and succeeded in different historical contexts.

• A school curriculum that views all community members as full participants in the education of the community’s children, both within the school and beyond.

• A school system whose teaching staff, administrators and support staff reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the communities that it serves with pre-service and in-service teacher training including compulsory training in cross-cultural communication and anti-racist education within a framework of educational equity.

• A community use of schools policy that is monitored to ensure that the diversity of the community is reflected in the programs that take place on the school’s premises.

• A discipline policy that is sensitive to the social, psychic and spirit injuries of racism and is administered in ways that ensure that no group is or appears to be placed in judgment over another group.

Email: votemurphybrowne@gmail.com